Brotherly Love

When it comes to stories of brothers, TV has given us some of the best examples of brotherly love – and, yes, sometimes big-time rivalry. On sitcoms, we’ve seen the almost idyllic Cleaver brothers of Leave it to Beaver, the always-fighting-but-always-sticking-up-for-each-other brothers of Malcolm in the Middle, and the “I’m-only-putting-up-with-you-because-we’re-brothers” pair of Two and a Half Men. Westerns gave us officially-half-brothers-but-who-cares Cartwrights on Bonanza. Brothers fight crime on Numb3rs and demons on Supernatural.

While many series have featured families of both boys and girls, I’m concentrating on the ones where boys rule. They’re each other’s best friends and, sometimes, worst enemies. It’s a dynamic we see time and again – and we continue to enjoy it. Here are some of my favorites. I hope you’ll find some of yours, too.

Honorable mention: Maverick (James Garner, Jack Kelly) – Although the actors played brothers Bret and Bart Maverick, they rarely interacted. Instead, each episode featured one or the other, though there were a few where the brothers would team up. Still, they were brothers who had each other’s backs – whenever they chanced to meet.

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